I survived the first day of the Master Gardener program at Green Spring Gardens. Actually, it was pleasant. Lots of nice people anxious to learn with and from one another.

My favorite quotation:

I’ve been killing plants since I was five.

I can identify.

Program Goal

We are not being trained to know everything. We are being trained to know where to go to find information.

I aim to share as much of this “where to go” knowledge as possible. Thus, I’ll be using a lot of easy-to-read bullet points and not much narrative.

Unless otherwise noted, I took the photos at Green Spring.

Lessons Learned

• It’s all about water. No water, no horticulture. That’s why there is no Martian Intercontinental Botanical Garden and Arboretum.
• All information in the course is based on university research.
• Membership in the Friends of Green Spring (FROGS) provides free or discounted admission to about 250 botanical gardens nationwide. About two visits would pay for the $25 membership fee.

Classmates

• Twenty-seven of us made the cut.
• All but four are women, so the ratio is great.
• Ages: Mature to retirement professional.
• One person produces a meal a day for her husband and her from her vegetable garden.

Vocabulary

• Amended, as in the soil was amended. Stuff was added to the soil. The stuff can be pesticides, fertilizer, compost, dirt from someplace else.

Homework

• Read chapter 2 of the Master Gardener Handbook – Botany. (Ugh. This is why I’ve never been a gardener. Too much science.)